


Ambrosia

by fei_to_the_moon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Apricot Juice is Deadly, Inspired by Call Me By Your Name, M/M, Politician Teddy, Research Assistant James, Slight Age Difference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28206768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fei_to_the_moon/pseuds/fei_to_the_moon
Summary: It's summer. The sun is high in the sky, with the heat engulfing everything in its wake.James takes a sip. “Delicious.”
Relationships: Teddy Lupin/James Sirius Potter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	Ambrosia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eleonorapoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eleonorapoe/gifts).



> A/N
> 
> I know how much you were looking forward to the Jeddy fic that was supposed to come from the Call Me By Your Name prompt from the HP Next Gen Fest. 
> 
> Hope someone does it justice someday, but here’s my short take on it as a consultation for now. Enjoy! <3
> 
> Also, thank you so much to S for the amazing beta. All mistakes in this fic are 100% of my own doing!

* * *

Teddy watches the warm amber juice as thick as syrup drip down from his mouth. A slow river forms, flowing gently down the skin. Skimming a dusted freckle below the lips, spreading at the curve of the chin, and then finally settling on the auburn stubble fresh from this morning.

“Oh, must’ve missed a drop,” James says, putting the empty glass on the table. There’s a devilish smile on his boyish face,still bright from the nectar. Teddy wants it gone, bright and swollen, and needy from something else.

A Quidditch-worn hand with a thumb beaten by sun and wind, so unlike Teddy’s own, goes and wipes the glistening apricot juice hanging on the jaw. The edges of James’ mouth curve upward. A pink tongue is now sticking out, going about in lazy circular motions licking the remaining sticky traces.

Teddy tears his gaze away from the decadent scene, focusing his vision upward where defiant hazel eyes meet his own staunch brown ones. “Hope you didn’t mind,” James purrs out, voice dripping.

The wind breezes gently, further furrowing Jame’s messy auburn hair, and pulls strands from Teddy’s perfectly coiffed styling. The summer sun is high in the sky, shining down on the patio of the villa, glazing them both bright gold with dark olive shadows. 

Teddy swallows, a pit forming in his stomach, and there’s darkness coming out he doesn’t want to touch.  _ Not yet at least, _ a voice sings traitorously in his head.

“No, not at all.” 

This is dangerous. James is six years younger, his Nan’s university research assistant, and from a family Teddy doesn’t get along with. Facts that are supposed to be bright red warning signs. Teddy is no stranger to boundaries, and this is supposed to divide them neatly like a white picket fence. 

Yet, James is so expressive and free. 

And Teddy’s captivated like a moth to a flame. James  _ burns _ . Burns bright red with his smile, his not-so-subtle glances from the study, toned body tan from the Mediterranean sun in swim trunks that leave Teddy imagining and _ wanting  _ more. And slowly he burns Teddy, with the flames trickling on the paper layers he’s built around himself. 

But, he has an image — one cultivated carefully that’s been crafted over the years. Protecting himself from the burdens of the past, of the stigma of being a werewolf’s son. Embracing more of the old Blacks than Tonks or Lupin. 

“Sometimes,” Nan says, “you remind me of my father.” 

And Teddy has always been okay with it. He plays the model child, becomes Prefect, and then Head Boy who emboldens the values of modesty and hard work of the black and yellow he supposedly bleeds. He blends perfectly in every stifling Ministry engagement, always leaving everyone impressed despite his age and background. 

And yet— 

“I need to go,” he says and gets up from his chair, ignoring the pout forming on James’ face. “Have a good day, James.” 

\-------

“Teddy?” 

They’re in the study this time. Teddy’s looking through the policy proposals forwarded by priority owl mail this morning and trying  _ not  _ to look at James lying casually on the duvet, research book upside down and covering his face.

“Yes, James?” he replies, glancing down where his hair, controlled a sandy neutral, reflects back on the glassy varnished coffee table. 

“You like me, don’t you?” James says and sneaks a peak from underneath his book.

His pulse thumps at the back of his head.

_ No. No, no, and no, _ his mind reasonably states.  _ There’s no way this can happen. _

Time stops, his mind unravels with a list of punctilious bullet points; there’s the age difference, their positions, their family history. 

Harry bloody Potter at his doorstep livid, not just about the budget cuts screwing the Auror Corps, but also because Teddy’s the prat screwing his son. 

And James, although brazen and bold, too reckless and of the wrong gender to be a presentable match for an up-and-coming Wizarding politician in the conservative Wizarding world.

“I—”

There’s a quick finger on his mouth as James moves across to him like lightning, leaving a haze of strewn books and paper in his wake. 

“I know you like me, and I like you too,” James goes, his voice ever confident, but if Teddy hears well enough, there’s a thin spread of uncertainty laced in.

Teddy traces over the expression on James’ face, still boyish and bright, but shadows of insecurity within the green speckled in the eyes and a quiver of lip show truth to something more. He’s just 22 years old, still in school. Someone he wasn’t supposed to interact with. A forgettable face once summer ended, with some casual, cordial hellos if Teddy ever ran into him in Diagon. 

And yet— 

The words meticulously formulated in his head die at his throat. 

He pulls them close together, foreheads touching, his hand at the back of James’ nape feeling the soft trembles below. The sound of slow, shallow breaths fill the space around them. 

_ His? James’? Both of theirs?  _

A small silence passes through, and then their lips touch, and Teddy tastes a sweet coating of apricot so divine.

Darkness and fire gradually flood his body, spreading upward from his toes and curling at the roots of his hair where a buzz of color blossoms on grainy canvas. There’s a hum, a contented sigh, and the flickering of flame bursting from his heart. 

**Author's Note:**

> Dropped my tumblr below if you ever want to connect!  
> http://fei-to-the-moon.tumblr.com/


End file.
